Suns of Arqa - Scared Sacred

[Rotwang]

Suns of Arqa - Scared Sacred (Liquid Sound Design)

 

 

Press Release:

 

Liquid Sound Design presents the latest instalment in the ever-progressive work of the legendary Suns Of Arqa.... SCARED SACRED. With over 30 genre-bending years of experience, creator and mentor Michael Wadada expertly carves a new path in the evolution of Dub, drawing for the melodies of classical Indian Raga and countless other ethnic influences and draping them over bass-heavy rhythms and euphoric soundscapes. In an age of incoherent albums designed to be 'cherry picked', we are presented with an engulfing musical journey, rewarding the listener with almost seamless transitions between rich atmospherics and driven, uplifting beats. With collaborators including super-producer Youth (The Verve, U2, The Orb, Paul McCartney...), this inspirational work promises to set a new standard for the world beat sound.

Before this rather groovily-illustrated offering appeared in the usual pstrance shops, I'd never heard of Suns of Arqa. A quick bit of Googling proved surprising: they've been around for over three decades, have collaborated with some big-name artists and have a discography as long as your arm (in small type). This album lists nine members, whose roles include playing the bansuri, khöömi vocal, morin khuur, khargiraa vocal, tanpura, voidascope and - my personal favourite - "esoteric instruments". Most of their albums have covers that look like their mum made them in powerpoint; I listened to some of their older stuff on YouTube, and I've got to say, some of it was pretty dreadful. So I don't know how they came to make this album, or how it came to be distributed by Arabesque, but I'm very glad it did.

 

Tracks (click titles for Saiko Sounds sample):

 

1) Gentraige 13:18

 

As overused as the word has become, I can't really think of any better one to characterise the album opener than "epic". It starts out innocuously enough: a meandering flute melody flutters around its own echo over a gentle backdrop of droning sitar. Then with little warning it swells up into something that would sound at home on Life², only to suddenly dissolve into a kind of summery house stomper that's toe-tappingly wonderful.

 

2) Goltraige 7:48

 

This is a much more straightforward bit of mid-tempo dance music which, apart from the presence of some Tuvan throat singing, is constructed from a strange array of old-fashioned bleeps and synths, as well as some artificial vinyl static to add to the overall early-Nineties vibe. It's nice, but nothing about it really stands out for me.

 

3) Dordfhiansa 14:59

 

The first half of Dordfhiansa is like a check-list of ethno-chill clichés. Tuvan throat singing, didgeridoos, tribal drumming, it's all here; but despite having all the standard ingredients this manages to distinguish itself by being, well, good. But the real surprise comes about half way through, when the track peters out into nothing before suddenly reincarnating as a much more interesting version of itself. It's hard for me to put into words what's so great about this, so I'll suggest you listen to it instead.

 

4) Echtratraige 15:24

 

This track - which is only part one of three - has so much going on that it's very difficult for a short review to do it justice. It builds slowly without ever giving the impression of being artificially long, and instead manages to stay interesting throughout. It has some unusual female vocals which I didn't like the first time I heard them but which have since grown on me a lot; I can't make out most of the lyrics, but given some of the lunacy on the band's website that's probably for the best. And it also does that thing of turning abruptly from chillout to dance music that this album does so incredibly well.

 

5) Echtratraige (Part 2) 5:11

 

Apart from a faint, aimless bassline and other miscellaneous droning, part two consists almost entirely of bizarre caterwauling about aliens or something. It certainly creates an interesting atmosphere, but in my experience one needs to be in the right mood to enjoy it.

 

6) Echtratraige (Part 3) 14:36

 

The moment part two turns into part three, the track suddenly regains its direction. The strange vocals are still there, but are now held together by a very nice hypnotic beat. The latter half, on the other hand, is dominated by a simple but devastatingly effective acid-like melody. Overall this is by far the most ambient bit of the CD, and it's great.

 

7) Suantraige 7:59

 

Suantraige feels sort of like a compilation of various elements from earlier tracks: it's got the throat singing that has already featured heavily, a synth melody similar to those of track 2, strange vocal harmonies like track 5 and an acid line like track 6. That's not to say that it isn't interesting in its own right, but on an album distinguished by its great variety this doesn't stand out as much as any other track.

 

 

 

Overall: This is easily one of the best albums I've heard this year. Don't expect standard psy-chill though; although this has many recognisable elements of the genre, the fact that it was made by an ensemble of multi-instrumentalists shows. The resulting variety of styles is a real strength in my opinion, and although some parts will inevitably not be to everybody's taste I can't imagine many listeners won't find something here to love. Highly recommended.

 

Favourite Tracks: 1, 3(!), 4(!), 6

[@reyu]

I've purchased SUNS OF ARQA the Remixes 1979-1995 a year ago because of a remix done by Adrian Sherwood. I love reggae & dub. I was pretty disappointed with some of the tracks, though some remixes are done nicely, overall very dubby. Lot's of sitar and ethnic sounds.

Remixes done by Youth, Swordfish from Astralasia and as mentioned before Adrian Sherwood pretty much deliver the goods. The rest is filler.

 

I hope this release is better, gonna check it out!

[abasio]

This is definitely my favourite from suns of arqa, it's darker and more psychedelic than other works I have heard from them. The multitude of instruments blends better into a really atmospheric piece of music. Best listened to as a whole to be properly appreciated.